Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet

[godjr]

WHO: Jack Kline and OTA
WHAT: Catch-all for October!
WHERE: Everywhere
WHEN: October
WARNINGS: Nothing so far/TBD





Open starters below!

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Comments

TDM Inspired Prompts

[godjr]

PETTING ZOO

Jack absolutely loves animals, so even if the petting zoo is small and not terribly impressive, he is delighted by it. He has the enthusiasm of all the young people when he goes into the pens. Jack has never gotten to ride anything before, so he is happy to ride the mule, patting it gently. He heals it of any exhaustion it feels so it seems particularly lively with him on it.

Jack can be found at any point sitting with the animals and sometimes covered in them. Even the chickens seem interested in perching on his legs where he sits cross-legged, and the piglets sniff around his shoes. They seem to sense that he is harmless, or maybe something about him puts animals at ease. He does come from the bloodline of a person who created all wildlife, so that could be part of it. Either way he is often with them, peaceful and content.

He cannot paint so he doesn't offer, but his face is completely covered in paint by the end of one day. None of his skin is shown, it's all covered in doodles of flowers and animals. He has whiskers painted on most visibly and a little tiger nose. Since he's always up late at night, he joins the piglet search, looking very anxiously and snorting like he thinks the pigs do to try and attract them.

PUMPKIN PATCH

Jack unfortunately doesn't have the type of creativity that would suit making fake pumpkins, so instead he's only there to observe and admire. Maybe you're making one and he admires it, giving a thumbs up. He looks at them even if they aren't particularly impressive with an impressed face, because the effort was there. He does pick up one, and he finds a marble within it. He's been told that he has to give it away for the spirit, so he turns to look at a person nearby, and offers the unique pretty marble to them. "A gift for the holiday!"

Jack will take every single job that offers money in the city. He has to worry about paying back the debt of three people, and it's not like he sleeps. As he waits for a partner though, he looks at his taser with a very serious frown. The clown mask is currently on top of his head rather than on his face. "I don't know about this," he says, a little worried. "Don't tasers hurt people?" Typical him to worry about that.

oink

[viceps]

[ Panorama is a weird place and there are all sorts here. Vi's been followed before, gotten catcalled more than once, been on the receiving end of several attempted muggings (no successful ones so far), and even got menaced by an angry racoon once for passing too near its trashcan.

This is the first time she's been tailed (?) by a meandering man snorting like a pig. She's already seen him three times on this street, though he keeps ducking into alleyways and reappearing. If he's trying to hide, he's doing a terrible job.

More grunting behind her. Vi finally turns to confront him. ]

Are you following me?

[godjr]

[ Jack is leaning down to see if he can spot anything around a trashcan, but no luck. He has no idea what would attract a pig, and it must be scared out here, and so alone. It's anxiety-provoking. He hasn't realized that he is essentially following Vi until she confronts him, and he straightens up, eyes wide. Jack seems like one of the most harmless people she'll meet at first few. Soft, average, his expression open and honest.]

Oh, no, I'm sorry, ma'am.

[ Jack takes a second to figure out that he has seen her everywhere he's been looking. Maybe he thought she was also looking, or his path of search simply had them on the same path. Either way, he feels badly, because he knows his fathers would remind him he has to be more aware of people at night. He might mean them no harm, but they don't know that.]

There's an escaped piglet from the petting zoo. I said I would find it but ... I'm not sure how to call a pig.

[viceps]

[ Vi looks startled, then grimaces at him. ]

Ma'am? Are you fucking kidding me.

[ She's not sure anyone's ever called her that before. Maybe the occasional young teen store clerk. It hits so weird. ]

So you're telling me you're wandering around alone in the dark because you agreed to find a pig.

[ Sounds like the craziest scam she's ever heard attempted, but there was that weird cult recently who just wanted to drink out of big cups or something. Maybe this is another cult situation. Pig cult.

Or maybe someone's just having a laugh before they jump him in one of the alleys he keeps checking and take all his coin. ]

What'd they promise you for it?

petting zoo.

[mercykills]

[The petting zoo is an oddity that Wolfwood find himself going back to more than once, just for the novelty of it. The whole idea behind the event is foreign to him, but so are most of the animals on display. He's gotten over his initial bewilderment at seeing what a sheep actually is, so he thought he'd get a more level impression of it today.

Instead, he finds himself staring at a young man who's become a chicken-perch. Wolfwood's not inside the enclosure himself, just leaning on the fence looking in. But after seeing this? He's absolutely got to comment.]

Were you feeding them or something? They're all over you.

[godjr]

[ Jack has named each of the animals his own names. They didn't appear to have them before or they weren't shared with him, but he likes to be able to talk to his animal friends. He responds to the chicks with little peep noises like them, or chickens with clucks. Maybe that's part of why they like him. The calm energy, and he does a good job at pretending to be one.

He glances up to look at the man asking the question, and he tilts his head thoughtfully to the side, considering. He hasn't fed them in particular, although there is feed on the ground they can have that keeps them docile was all these strangers surround them.]

Animals like me. I'm not sure why.

[ He has a suspicion it might be the Chuck of it all, that he's the grandson of the entity that created all life including animals, but that might be just a guess. There hasn't been an animal or creature in this place who hasn't warmed up to Jack. ]

We're very big to them, we're giants. It must be scary. So I think they like people who get closer to the ground and talk nicely to them.

[mercykills]

[The animal-noises thing is... odd, but not the weirdest thing Wolfwood's ever seen. People do that with their cats, so who's to say people wouldn't do it with chickens if they're more familiar with them. Do people keep these things as pets? He's got no idea. How annoying.

Wolfwood shifts his elbows on the fence, dropping his chin into one hand as he looks at Jack and his little menagerie.]

No kidding. Most of 'em just steer clear of me.

[Could be his general attitude, could be the cigarette smoke. Wolfwood's not all that bothered ... except with the sheep, who he's sure has taken a specific disliking to him.]

Well, plenty of kids are doing that, so it makes sense. They're more on their level to start with. More excited about it too.

Bulletin inspired prompts

[godjr]

Jack does try to save his money to pay off debt, but he makes a decent living off his many jobs, so he lets himself splurge occasionally. He decides to buy flowers for Rowena because it'll make her smile, and he gets extra flowers that he can give out to people who seem like they need it. However, when he's set them down to get a drink, they turn into flesh-eating flowers with feet. Jack's startled when he comes back, watching them start to chase people in the cafe around. Maybe you're the one being chased or the flower has come up to try and chomp on your flesh.

Jack goes to Cider Fest with great excitement since they only really celebrated holidays one time. In Kansas, he didn't go to the festivals they'd have, and he's only seen things like this on television. He tries a cider at every single place to encourage their business and to say that he did. This leads him to get two sets of stamps.

"Here, you can get something with it!" he tells a person nearby, whether he knows them or not, and hands over the second stamp collection. He's currently enjoying the fruits of his stamp by enjoying chocolates. His sweet tooth took over on this one, but there are rubber dinosaurs and hair clips that drew his attention too. He'd rather give it away though.

In the Fringes, Jack has come upon an eerie playground. Much of it is broken or not fully functioning, but he sits on the swingset or wanders the grounds for hours. He likes the jungle gym, which is partially broken down and has pieces missing.

He can be found at the Yawning Sea again where he decided to go quietly by himself. He finds a place to sit and looks out toward the water with some kind of open longing. He doesn't touch it, once was enough, but he's pensive. He uses a branch he found to dig symbols into the ground.

an extremely late cider fest thread

[haemosexual]

Laszlo has been lurking around the pub crawl, partly out of curiosity and partly in attempts to see if he can snatch up anyone's stamp card, being unable to drink himself and altogether not keen on using hypnosis just to get a little pencil eraser shaped like a dinosaur. But he really does want that little pencil eraser, so he's still here. It's embarrassing, really.

He feels Jack's presence before he hears him or even sees him, his skin crawling with pruritus in the way he's come to associate with the boy's natural holy aura.

"Dear boy, you are a saint," he says, snatching up the stamp card so he can immediately put a comfortable distance between them. "This whole situation is rather discriminatory toward chaps who can't consume human food and drink."

[godjr]

Jack brightens when Laszlo comes over and more than happily hands the stamp card to him. He's very fond of the gentleman vampire, and nothing pleases him more than doing nice things for other people. He's overall in a good mood about the stamps and little gadgets while they're there.

"It would be nice if there was a bar where you could just order blood, right? Can I have a vintage of O+?" Jack himself doesn't need to eat or drink, but he can, unlike Laszlo's type of vampire from what he's gathered. "I'd donate my blood to the cause, but it would kill you instantly." Jack's blood isn't 'blood' in the strictest sense. It's holy like the rest of him. He's intentionally not donated any blood to the banks or hospitals here. Too much risk of a non-human accidentally getting it.

"What are you going to get?"

[haemosexual]

Jack's overall bubbly mood throws Laszlo off a little, and he can't really decide if he should be offended by the hypothetical description of Death by Holy Blood. If Jack were a mortal, Laszlo would probably think about snapping his neck, but as it is, he just kind of screws up his face a bit.

He's glad to let the conversation move on, anyway, though now he feels kind of stupid for desiring a tiny eraser of no consequence, so he shoves the stamp card in his pocket. "It doesn't matter. Look—I've been thinking about our conversation."

He moves to sling an arm over Jack's shoulders, hesitates and thinks better of it, then just starts off and motions for him to follow.

"If I want to do actual research on the ins and outs of your," he begins, taking a second to think of a word before waving vaguely in Jack's direction and deciding on, "deal, I'll have to do some proper experimentation. Hands-on stuff. I mean, we'll have to."

General Prompts/Wildcards

[godjr]

Jack can usually be found:

- Working at the supermarket, the graveyard shift
- Working at the bowling alley either selling shoes or drinks
- Wandering the streets at night by himself because he's awake
- Driving around the Fringes, often stopping off at cool locations
- Healing people or lifting heavy things for them
- Zapping the vending machine into working if it's stalled
- Sitting on the top of a roof and then jumping down without any problem
- Noticeably sad over the month because Castiel is gone

should be fine with their other thread going on | Castiel Sadness

[alwaysme]

Jinx swoops down from an overhang like a graceful bird, relatively accustomed to being able to find Jack without simply just texting like a Normal Person. While the form of easy communication does call to her, she just gets too easily distracted, and Vi is the only one she gives enough of her focus to.

But she's learning to scale Panorama in the way that she used to the Undercity and there's a comfort to it now that she didn't have several months ago.

"Jeez, what's got you down in the dumps? Never seen you so glum," she's saying as she drops an old, faded yellow bag of candies in his lap where he's sitting. There's a cartoony bee drawn on it, red and orange label, the name Bit-O-Honey across it in blueish-black. Trade complete.

[godjr]

Jack startles a little from her sudden experience, but it goes straight into open delight at seeing her. His smile isn't as forced as it's been lately, but the sadness hangs over him like a heavy weight. He looks down at the candies, and that is greatly appreciated in his current mood. Dean usually turns to beers when he's sad, but this is more Jack's speed.

"One of my fathers is gone. He went away. They say people disappear here all the time, they go back. I can feel his absence, we had a connection and it's cut off." So it's not a case of Castiel might just be off in the Fringes somewhere. Jack went looking on purpose. He drove to every possible direction waiting for his angel radio to get somewhere, but it was only emptiness in response.

"He didn't know me, he was from our past, so we didn't really get along. But he's dead in my future, so I was glad to have him back." Jack hasn't come to grips with Castiel's death; it literally happened right before coming here. Maybe this is when his grief is possible for him to experience without someone else filling that hole.

[alwaysme]

Despite living much of her life out of/in the vicinity of a bar, alcohol's never been much her speed. She finds she enjoys the sweet things too, when she has the ability to be choosey for what her and Vi are able to consume. The amount of food that they bring home as leftovers or scrap that they found may be alarming to some, though Vi has been cooking.

Having had three different paternal figures (and only one maternal, jeez), she doesn't blink at the one of comment. She does, however, go stony at the rest of what he says.

(She doesn't know that her reaction is the same as Vi's when she found out about the same thing.)

"I didn't know that could happen," she says. "That people could show up before you knew them, or from before they die." There's a heavy burden in her gaze. She's trying not to think of all the disastrous possibilities in her life. So many more dead than alive.

But this isn't about her. "Sorry you lost him. That's kinda the thing about fluxdrifts, right? Like the diffusion zones, we're all just in a state of flux." That's likely not a very comforting phrase. She's not sure how to be very comforting.

supermarketttttt

[retrievalist]

[ Considering that Eliot doesn't really have what one might call a normal schedule, he is extremely grateful that this place has supermarkets that don't seem to ever close. Doubly so, because it means he doesn't have to rush through but can take the time to pick his groceries for the week.

But all the time in the world won't change the fact that a lot of the meat options are a little... suspect. Eliot picks up a pound of beef to put into basket, and then picks up the package next to it. It certainly looks like some kind of red meat, but the label's in a language he's never seen before and the consistency is... not very meat-like.

Eliot looks around for a second before he spies a worker going past. ]

Hey, excuse me. How much do you know about the meat sold here?

[godjr]

[ Jack does the graveyard shift at the supermarket, since he doesn't sleep, and he finds it pretty interesting. The people at three AM are the most fascinating to him, and he's come up with names for all of them. Right now it's quiet though, and it's the time to stock shelves. Jack loves doing the jobs that everyone else finds utterly boring. The novelty of having a real job has not worn off for him; he's the model employee.

He has his cart of things, but he glances up when Eliot speaks, and Jack comes over. He wears a nametag saying "Jack" and a workshirt with his jeans. He looks down at the meat in question and shrugs.]

It's all good meat, it won't make you sick. They take it seriously here.

[ Selling bad meat means bad for business, and people around here get aggressive sometimes if they get mad about things. So it's smart to make certain it's safe and no one has to point any guns around.]

I believe that's the meat from the fruit orchard. It sold well around here. They don't often get a new supply of meat to fill in.

[ Acreage only has so much meat, and then once and awhile apparently some of the Fringes fills with things that are usable. Everyone figures out a way to make a buck, and they'll sell what they can. Jack brought a lot of the meat fruits to the city himself.]

[retrievalist]

Meat... fruit.

[ Not precisely the combination of words he was expecting, and now that he's heard them he doesn't think he wants to hear them again. ]

I see. [ No he doesn't. ] And that's... meat. From a fruit. Does it taste of meat or of fruit?

[ He's asking the question out of morbid curiosity but actually thinking about it, he could probably do some interesting things with meat that's a little sweet or citrusy or whatever. Maybe some sweet potatoes... red wine reduction? Cabbage? Hopefully this time he won't get accused of something ridiculous. ]

Nami

[godjr]

[After this]

[ Jack hurries home after his shift ends to pick up the gift and flies back to Xiao Xue. Luckily work basically lets him wear anything he wants given that it's a bar and bowling alley. No uniform outside of the requirement to wear clothes of some kind. There's one coworker who tests that requirement sometimes, but Jack finds it much easier to work in his common jeans and flannel. So he doesn't have to change by the time he goes over to the dumpling place.

He doesn't order food for two reasons: he doesn't need to eat, and because he should wait for her even if he does. Sometimes he indulges, but only when there's company around. It's impossible to hide his gift because it's visibly obvious. It's a toy pirate ship so not very expensive or impressive, but the intent behind it is sincere. It's reasonably large, and Jack has been spending time cleaning it up since he got it months ago. It has some chipped paint, and there is a little tear in one of the sails that he's unable to sew back together since it's made out of plastic. But he hopes that his mother's belief that intention matters more than perfection turns out to be true.

He stands out front of the place, holding the ship carefully in his hands, and he looks out for her. Back home Jack would be stargazing, but this part of the city still has enough lights to make it imperfect to gaze.]

[cartographie]

[ For the sake of her sanity, Nami always change when she leaves the bar, and stuffs the bunny ears, fluffy tail, and satin bustier they make her wear at Chasing Tail into the bottom of her bag. She lives with four other pirates, and the last thing she wants to hear is any one of them giving her guff for the cocktail waitressing job she's held since her first few weeks in the city. Tips are good, and she's close enough to the inaccessible, wealthy part of town to feel like she might meet someone important enough to be worth charming. The job is worth it, but for the sake of avoiding the questions, and smug glances, she swaps to jeans, a fitted top, and the very cool dark blue leather jacket she found while trawling the racks at the thrift store Wanda works at before heading to the dumpling house.

Jack wouldn't be difficult to spot, even if he wasn't holding a small model of a ship in his hands. Even as she walks up, Nami can't help but smile in spite of herself, as clearly, this was the gift he'd been talking about when he invited her to meet up that evening. ]

Going to take a wild guess and say that isn't what you bring your lunch to work in.

[ She starts, hands in the pockets of her jacket as she comes to a stop on the sidewalk beside him. To say there are walls there, is an understatement – Nami isn't at all the easiest person in the world to get a smile out of, especially when it's aimed at someone she doesn't know well, but Jack has caught her off guard enough that she can't suppress the little grin on her face. ]

[godjr]

[ Ever since they met in that unexpected way, he's thought about her. Not in a bad way, it's just that Jack isn't supposed to be pulled to people like that who aren't his family members. It was out of their hands, and he doesn't feel it anymore, but he remembers what it was like. She's his friend; they shared something very weird. And she's a navigator, a pirate like his favorite legends! So of course when he thought about a gift, this came to his mind right away.

Jack doesn't have many friends. He had none before coming here. So he's taken to giving the ones he's made gifts whenever he finds something they'll like. He hopes it reflects his appreciation for being nice to him. He flashes a grin back at her. It's wide and open and without any of the walls that she has. Jack's feelings and thoughts are right there on his face and in his eyes at all times. He's never learned how to mask.]

I cleaned it up and I would have painted the chipped parts if I had any. I'm sorry it isn't perfect, but I thought you'd like it.

[ Jack's a little uncertain because it's not a particularly impressive gift. He wishes the mall was still around so he could scavenge something better for her, but hopefully it'll be okay. It's very light weight so not hard to carry around, and he offers it to her.]

You're going to have to name the ship though. What was your ship's name?

quietly covers up the date on this tag

[cartographie]

[ That shared weirdness has helped Jack, honestly. Nami doesn't let people get close to her, at first because it was safer for them if they didn't, and now simply because it's both force of habit and probably smarter for all parties involved, but it's hard not to harbor a certain degree of fondness for someone like him, thanks entirely to the fact that she's vividly aware that however unknowingly, they shared emotions for a brief point in time. ]

It is perfect.

[ Her hands slip free of her jacket pockets and lift the boat out of his hands as she finally looks away from him and his wide, earnest smile (the kind of look that would get his wallet stolen in her old life), and down to the model in her hands. ]

Gonna say it's the best looking ship I've seen in this world so far. [ Which is the honest truth. The Diadem is not for the seafaring type, after all. ]

Our ship back home? She's called Going Merry. [ Luffy has weird tastes, but damn if it doesn't suit; especially with the grinning ram's head at the front of the vessel. ] I can show you a drawing I did of it yesterday when I was on break, come on.

[ Adjusting her hold on the model ship so that she's got a careful grip on it with one hand, her newly free one briefly gives his sleeve a tug, before she takes a few steps towards the door of the dumpling house. ]

Come on. I'm no expert, but I think this is the part where I buy you dinner to thank you.

Fringes - powers and control practice!

[godfragment]

The air hangs dry and brittle, the wind pulling long threads of dust across the cracked earth, whispering through the skeletons of things that once were. The remnants of buildings jut from the ground like broken teeth-- concrete shells half-swallowed by sand, their windows empty and sightless. Rusted metal twists out of the rubble in strange shapes, warped by age and heat, the remnants of old signage flaking away into nothing.

Far out here, the horizon is a bleached line of pale gold, the sky wide and cloudless. It feels vast, unending, a place where the world itself seems to thin out. Sound carries strangely-- even the smallest movement stirs a faint echo.

John stands at the edge of what might once have been a road - just a strip of cracked asphalt now, bisected by stubborn weeds - and waits. The wind catches at the edges of his robe, tugs at the drifting tendrils of his hair. Behind him, one of the ruined structures still stands tall enough to cast a long, skeletal shadow, its hollow interior filled with the low hum of wind through metal beams.

It's a place that suits their purposes. Empty, still, caught between life and desolation. A place where the world feels distant enough that two gods can test their strengths without causing anyone else any harm.

[godjr]

Jack follows the instructions he was given to zoom his motorcycle there. He's now an experienced driver, so he doesn't get into any accidents anymore. He does have a helmet on at all times though, despite the fact an accident can't actually hurt him. It's important to follow protocol. He's about to get in a fight that proves why no bike can hurt him. The last time he let loose with his power was with the creature from the temple, and Jack won that fight. He would have finished it off if Castiel didn't need him to whisk them both away. That was the first time he felt like it was possible he could handle his powers if he just trained.

Jack's driven by places like in the diffusion zone before. Locations that are barely put together enough that if they broke, it wouldn't be a big deal. He pulls over when he sees John clear as day from a distance; his friend stands out. He smiles warmly as he sets the helmet on top of the motorcycle seat and lifts his hand in a wave. "Hello John!"

He is a little nervous underneath his genuine joy to see his friend. He worries about hurting people. Jack knows that John is formidable and powerful on his own. They're both gods in their own right, but he doesn't always like the idea of hurting people. He has to change his mindset. Sometimes it's okay to fight if the other person says it's okay. He's been learning that with Lucina.

He reaches out to put a hand on John's shoulder in friendly greeting, looking up at him. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

[godfragment]

The dark void of John's face splits around an answering smile as Jack spots him, teeth gleaming like shards of glass in the afternoon light. A few of the fine tendrils that serve as his hair lift and sway, fluid and deliberate, a strange echo of Jack's raised hand. When Jack's palm settles on his shoulder, those same tendrils drop to wind loosely around his forearm, a feather-light coil that tightens in a brief, companionable squeeze before retreating. A wordless, alien display of warmth.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't have concerns," He can't claim to always be inclined toward honesty, but something about Jack's openness - the unguarded, plain way he speaks - has a way of disarming him. Has done since the first time they met. It makes truth come easier somehow, even when it's tangled and difficult to express. It's because of this that he allows the concern threading through him to colour the braided echo of his voice. "I still have... reservations, about using my powers on anyone. Especially a friend."

He shrugs, the movement rippling through the broad span of his shoulders and down through the folds of his robe, fabric stirring as though in a slow current. Almost restlessly, tentalces coil and uncoil against the dusty ground.

"But it's as you've said. Leaving them unchecked would likely cause more damage in the long run," He pauses then, a subtle tilt of the head-- thoughtful, studying. The gold in his eyes flares faintly in the light. "And you? Are you sure?"